A Book Lover Brings Libraries to Darfuris

Darfur woman being testedf for her first pair of reading glasses sent by Book Wish Foundation

Photograph: Anne Goddard -- CORD

Our work in developing countries relies on forming genuine partnerships. Our partner in Chad is a 42 year old British humanitarian organization, one of the first on the ground in Chad helping the Darfuris — CORD. We spent a year developing this relationship, identifying specific needs. CORD runs the education programs for the Darfuris in the three camps we are currently focused on. In less than two years, we have received requests for targeted reading aid from 20 countries, many from Africa.

In addition to searching for new and used books, Bibliotarian.org finds books available for swapping from BookMooch and PaperBackSwap, two of the largest book-swapping websites. Other features include wish lists and book recommendations for supporters of specific charities. Among the books recommended so far are Michelle Richmond’s "The Year of Fog," for supporters of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Khaled Hosseini’s "A Thousand Splendid Suns," for Women For Women International, and Ann M.

Martin’s "A Dog’s Life," for the Humane Society.

Book Wish Foundation President Logan Kleinwaks (my son!) said that "being able to benefit your favorite charity at no extra cost will be attractive to many people, but we hope that everyone will see Bibliotarian’s speed and functionality as reasons to begin their online book shopping with us. This is a win-win situation for book lovers and charities."

Through August 15, visitors to Bibliotarian.org can enter a sweepstakes to win a Sony Reader electronic book device.